The United States on Tuesday more than doubled to $35 million its pledge of aid for victims of the Asian tsunami and said it and the international community would have to provide much more. Calling the new pledge preliminary, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters: "We know the needs will be greater. This was a disaster of almost unimaginable dimension, and it's going to require massive support for some time." U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged the international community could ultimately have to give billions of dollars in aid but he rejected reported comments from a top U.N. official that rich nations were "stingy" with their aid. As part of the U.S. response, the Pentagon also dispatched the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln from Hong Kong toward Thailand and mobilized other vessels and planes to help with the relief efforts in a disaster that has killed more than 50,000 people. --SP 2244 Local Time 1944 GMT
